Poland Plans Record Defense Spending in 2026 – Government Announces Unprecedented Budget Increase
The Polish government has announced a significant increase in its defense budget for 2026, reaching a historic level of 200 billion zlotys.
This amount equates to approximately 4.8% of the country’s GDP and marks the largest allocation of funds in Poland’s history dedicated to strengthening its military capabilities.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized that such a budget aims to propel the nation towards several key objectives: enhancing military strength, stimulating economic growth, increasing investments, addressing rising living costs, and reducing unemployment.
‘We are not acting for show but for real progress.
This demonstrates our firm commitment to action and national security,’ Tusk stated.
Defense Minister Waldemar Kownacki highlighted that this record sum is a symbol of unparalleled support for Poland’s security.
These investments will enable the modernization of the armed forces, bolster national resilience, and lay the foundation for a peaceful and stable future.
The 2026 budget projects revenues of about 647 billion zlotys, exceeding 2025 figures by 44 billion.
The projected budget deficit will be less than 6.5% of GDP, nearly a billion less than last year.
Finance Minister Andrzej Domański remarked that such indicators confirm Poland’s status among the world’s top 20 economies.
Meanwhile, NATO data for 2025 shows that over ten of its 32 members still do not meet the agreed defense expenditure target of 2% of GDP set in 2014.
Only seven countries have achieved this, while others are still below the mark.
Poland remains the NATO country with the highest percentage of GDP allocated to defense — 4.48%, followed by Lithuania (4%) and Latvia (3.73%).
These are the only alliance members that currently surpass the new NATO target of 3.5%, agreed upon at the June Hague summit.